The tourism sector has voiced its concern after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced an eight per cent cut to its budget for tourism promotion with VisitBritain and VisitEngland suffering a 12 per cent cut.

The British Hospitality Association (BHA) expressed its concern over the cuts, with BHA CEO, Ufi Ibrahim, stating: "VisitBritain's budget has been cut by 56.5 per cent in real terms over the past decade, even though £1 spent on tourism marketing produces an extra £18 in additional spend by visitors, much of which gets back to the Treasury as extra tax receipts.

“Cutting the tourism budget yet again shows that it's just an easy target rather than one which is fair or properly thought through."

According to a study by Deloitte, travel and tourism represents nine per cent of the UK's GDP - with a value of £115bn and 2.6m jobs distributed over 200,000 companies. However, the tourism sector receives just three per cent of the DCMS budget in comparison to the creative industries, which receive 44 per cent of funding allocations.